In China, many products are produced at prices much lower than they are in other countries,
but until recently, agriculture was not subject to the same type of mass industrialization. Now, it appears that
China is muscling in on the truffle market,
something that the French are not too happy about. France has a 45% share of the truffle market and their fungi cost an
average of more than $500 per pound. Two new Chinese varieties of truffles cost more than 90% less - $28 per pound. The
director of Yunri foods, a Chinese company that sells the truffles, said that they sell over 20 tons of truffles and
mushrooms a year, mostly to the United States, United Kingdom and France.
A representative from the French Federation of Truffle Growers said that there were marked differences in the
quality of the truffles, despite the fact that they look almost identical to the pricier Perigord variety. "It's a
problem of aroma and of quality consistency." Truffle aficionados, predictably, state that the French version
is unquestionably superior, but the real question is whether the average consumer would find the French truffles to be
90% better than the much less expensive Chinese ones.